On the occasion of Shivratri, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from here, announced Rs.1.2 crore for various development works in Ransoo, where the holy shrine of Shiv Khori is located.

Dr Jitendra Singh was addressing a meeting of public representatives and state administration after participating in the Shivratri.

Out of Rs.1.2 crore announced by him, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Rs.60 lakh will be spent on a community toilet complex, which according to him, was a dire need, because of thousands of pilgrims visiting the Shiv Khori shrine.

Another Rs.40 lakh, he said, would be spent on building a “Yatri Niwas” to provide cost-effective lodging and boarding facility for the visitors. In addition, he said, he had earmarked Rs.20 lakh, out of which Rs.10 lakh he would arrange immediately for installing tube wells.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that in the last 3 to 4 years, the far-flung districts like Reasi had received the kind of attention that was not given in the earlier decades.

Reasi is the only district other than Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh said, which has been elaborately referred by Prime Minister Narender Modi in his popular monthly radio broadcast “Mann Ki Baat”.

While Reasi block was the first officially declared “ODF” block in the state, the Katra town was included in the list of “100 Icon Towns” under “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that tenders have been floated for construction of local Tanda-Ransoo road at a cost of Rs. 90 lakh.

For PMGSY roads, while the State of J&K was given highest - ever package of Rs 2400 crore, nearly half of it has been allocated for Udhampur-Kathua-Doda constituency and out of that, Reasi and Udhampur have received maximum after Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh said.

Responding to a demand for extending the railway line to Shiv Khori, Dr Jitendra Singh said, he would discuss the feasibility of this suggestion.

Dr Jitendra Singh also referred to the state’s only “War Memorial” dedicated to commemorate Golden Jubilee of the 1965 War which was set up from his MP fund, near the DC office complex in Reasi.

He said, the survey is already in process for construction of Katra-Delhi Express Road Corridor and once that becomes functional, the number of pilgrims and visitors to Shiv Khori and Vaishno Devi will increase manifold.

MoS Tourism Priya Sethi described the details of the proposed tourist circuit being worked out by the government involving Ransoo, Shiv Khori and other neighboring points of interest.